Avoiding the pitfalls in AI adoption: Jeremy Cooper, Apollo Therapeutics

‘Don’t go to the company that says, ‘We’ve got an AI tool, what’s your problem?’’

Jeremy Cooper, head of IT at Apollo Therapeutics, tells us what IT leaders need to watch for when adopting AI, whether they’ve just started or are in the middle of their journey.

Artificial intelligence is transforming industries left, right and centre. How do you prepare to ride the wave of change, rather than being swept away?

Answering that question is why we’ve launched our AI in Action content hub, the one-stop shop for all things AI. Here you can find a range of news articles, features, research and interviews covering every aspect of the AI debate.

The next video in our mini-series of IT leaders talking all about AI is with Jeremy Cooper, head of IT at Apollo Therapeutics. Not only does he share details on how his company is using the tech today, but his own learnings on what other leaders need to know before starting their own adoption journey.

Today, Apollo is using AI at “a really basic level” for productivity and efficiency, but its goals are much more ambitious.

Being heavily involved in research, Apollo is starting to look at how AI can support innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. Part of that relies on its work with partner organisations, which would help the company be more targeted in its own work.

But there are still challenges in the way, as Jeremy explains.

“A lot of true AI is black box... We put this in, we got that out, why did it make this decision?

“I work with incredibly detailed and specific people... They want to know the equation... They want to know how you came to that conclusion, so they can check the maths.”

Another challenge, which all IT leaders need to be aware of, is vendors trying to shoehorn AI into every problem. Sometimes, it may not be the right approach.

“Don’t go to the company that says, ‘We’ve got an AI tool, what’s your problem?’” Instead, Apollo has looked for workers' biggest time drain and frustrations and worked to fix them with an appropriate solution. That could be AI, or it could be as simple as an integration.

This is just an excerpt from the full video, in which Jeremy delves into his AI security concerns, the areas of AI that excite him and how he makes sure his company is using the tech responsibly. Find it now on Computing’s AI in Action hub.